In many cases, the end of the year gives you time to step back and take stock of the last 12 months. This is when many of us take a hard look at what worked and what did not, complete performance reviews, and formulate plans for the coming year. For me, it is all of those things plus a time when I u...

- Reveals a distinction between the US and UK trends for key 'must- have' items

LONDON, Dec. 17, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- The flurry of Christmas shopping is well underway online. Activity kicked off in earnest on PriceGrabber.com from Cyber Monday in the USA (26th November) and PriceGrabber.co.uk saw business hit a peak on Mega Monday (3rd December) here in the UK. The likely winners in the battle of the brands in the electronics sector are beginning to emerge. Meanwhile, consumer trends across the broader range of products purchased online for Christmas are becoming increasingly apparent.

Depending on which side of the Atlantic consumers are on, online shoppers are accessing PriceGrabber's sites; choice of top products will vary. For example, here in the UK, the iPad® Mini® is undoubtedly thrashing its competitors as the tablet of choice for the perfect Christmas gift. The iPad® Mini® in black and white take first and second spot respectively, with different models of the iPad 2® in third and seventh positions in the ranking of overall products on PriceGrabber.co.uk.

A variety of tablets were trending in the US, the first iPad® product to be featured comes in ninth on PriceGrabber.com. The Latitude® ST 10.1 " 32 GB Wi-Fi Black Tablet comes out first, followed closely by the Galaxy® Tab® 2, 10.1" and 8". Interestingly, the Galaxy® Tab 2® does not feature at all in the Top 20 products on PriceGrabber.co.uk site.

Another marked difference between the two sites is the popularity of TVs with US consumers, accounting for half of the top 20 products. In contrast, TVs do not feature at all in the UK top 20 trending products.

So, what accounts for the difference in consumer behaviour between the two countries? Justin Sedgmond, Head of PriceGrabber.co.uk, says, "It always surprises people that two countries that share the same language and appear on the surface to have so much in common, could have such different preferences in something as simple as their choice of technology products. In fact, the popularity of a technology item in a particular market is strongly influenced by factors such as pricing or the success of advertising campaigns."

The fastest growth area on PriceGrabber.co.uk is the fashion portal. Unsurprisingly, with temperatures taking a nose dive, the most popular clothing item featured on the top products overall here in the UK is a coat – the Barbour ®Liddesdale® Quilted jacket. While coats do feature on PriceGrabber.com, it is in fact sporting wear which nails the top spot, with men's running shoes (Scramble® TRII) and skate shoes (Action Dunk Low LR®) being the most popular items.

Indeed, despite the prevalence of consumer electronics products at the top of PriceGrabber's tables, in the UK clothing was the most popular sector overall on Mega Monday, which marks the true start of the online Christmas shopping season. Electronics came in second, swapping places with Indoor Living which was third, down from second place in 2011.

Justin Sedgmond concludes: "Christmas is a huge time for PriceGrabber.co.uk as we are able to offer consumer big brands for the best prices available with unbiased reviews, so consumers can get exactly what they want, knowing they won't find a better price anywhere else. Here at PriceGrabber we have unparalleled and unbiased insight into key consumer trends in the run-up to Christmas and it is always fascinating to see which products and brands are winning the battle. Whereas tablets are hugely popular this year, with so many new models having been launched ready for Christmas, clothing nonetheless remains the leading sector."

For a full list of the top trending products on both PriceGrabber.co.uk and PriceGrabber.com please see the appendix below.

About PriceGrabber.co.uk

PriceGrabber.co.uk and PriceGrabber. com are leading online shopping sites with more than 23 million monthly unique shopping users across its network of sites. At PriceGrabber.co.uk, savvy shoppers can instantly find and compare millions of unique products and services across 25 categories with more than 11,000 merchants. Compare products side by side to find the right retailers at the best prices within popular categories, such as Digital cameras, Electronics, Computers, Clothing, Books, TVs and more. PriceGrabber.co.uk provides shoppers with the right product from the right merchant at the best price anytime, anywhere.

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